Nancy Ann Dahl, professor of physiology and cell biology, was named Oct. 13 as the winner of the 1995 Chancellors Club Career Teaching Award.
"I am really pleased," Dahl said. "You struggle and you struggle and you struggle and you never know if you make a difference. Receiving this prestigious award is gratifying because it validates my efforts to influence the learning of my students."
The annual award honors a senior faculty member at KU who exemplifies the university's commitment to outstanding teaching. Dahl will received the award at the club's 18th annual meeting Oct. 13. KU students, faculty members and alumni submit nominations for the $5,000 award.
Dahl is known as an enthusiastic teacher dedicated to her students. She carries a full teaching load of physiology classes and continues her research into the metabolism of the eye. Dahl is so enthusiastic about teaching that she uses some of her limited free time to give presentations to elementary and junior high school students.
"She uses her lectern to challenge the students with problems, to give them real-world examples and to help them build a solid base of knowledge," said Jerome M. Yochim, KU professor of physiology and cell biology, in nominating Dahl. "Her presentations are exciting and useful, both to those who would become professionals in the area as well as those simply seeking an understanding of how things (like the human body) work."
Yochim said Dahl focused on the individual student.
"Nancy does not teach classes: She teaches students," Yochim said. "That is to say, she is interested in each student in her class, regardless of the class size. Her commitment to helping minorities, women and socially or physically disadvantaged students is a natural outgrowth of her dedication to helping people."
Dahl said she had been lucky to be able to pursue a career as exciting as teaching.
"It's so much fun," she said. "The biggest excitement in the world is learning new things and then sharing these ideas with others. Teaching allows me to do that."
Dahl's 36-year teaching career began when she was a teaching assistant at KU. She graduated from KU with a bachelor's degree in bacteriology in 1956 and a doctorate in physiology in 1962. After postdoctoral work in England, she joined the KU faculty and became a full professor in 1993.
Dahl has written nearly 40 scientific papers and presentations in her research on the eye and energy flow in nerve tissue. She has been a leader on campus, serving as chair of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee and the University Senate Executive Committee.